Superhero Six Pack

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No, that’s not him in the illustration. That’s Gotham City’s most famous crime fighter. But our friend Dr Kareem Samhouri HAS been known to craft many a six pack of superhero proportions.

In our last blog post, Dr K shared his #1 Tip For A Kevlar Core. In that post he mentioned a few super powered exercises to develop uncanny core strength.

Well, many of you wrote in asking for a demonstration. So we pulled in some favours and got the doc to film each of the exercises for you.

Kareem received a doctorate in physical therapy and is a Neuro Metabolic Six Pack Abs Expert. His totally revamped Ab Strength Guide is THE most comprehensive resource on core strength in existence. Tomorrow we’ll let you know how you can access Dr K’s core strength expertise through an exclusive BodyweightCoach.com invitation.

But for now, check out the doc in action…

In that same post, we promised to give away a couple copies of our own favourite ab strength routine, Kevlar Core. The stories we got from you guys in the comments were phenomenal, and really fun to read. The only problem was trying to choose only three winners!

Despite the fact that pretty much everyone who responded was worthy to win, we managed to whittle it down to only three.

And the winners are…

Ray – For the coolest — most kick ass — super hero storyCarole – For the most inspirational storyCharley – For having triplets!!!

We also decided to award one more unanticipated prize. We’d like to give a complete Deluxe edition of Bodyweight Blueprint to Sarah. We hope this helps you keep up with the kids…

Now, if you didn’t win Kevlar Core, fear not. We might STILL give it to you for FREE. In fact, we’ll probably throw in its “sister” program for leg strength called Pillar Power. But we’ve said it before, Kevlar Core is as elusive as the Dark Knight himself. If you want to get your hands on it, watch out for more news about Dr K’s Ab Strength Guide.

You can certainly do all of these exercises with just your bodyweight. However, finding unstable surfaces such as the vertical dumbbell (or a cinderblock, basketball, couch pillow, rocking chair, etc.) can really add a great benefit.

Our favourite TOOL is usually bodyweight exercise. But that’s just one way to apply the fundamental PRINCIPLES of good movement and body transformation. We are absolutely not dogmatic about the tool — but we are sticklers for the principles.

And I can tell you right now that I don’t know anyone who understands the principles the way Dr K does. So it’d be downright selfish of us to not share his knowledge with you just because he’s got a weight in his hand… 😉

BodyweightCoach.com is all about bringing you alternatives that you won’t find at your local neighborhood Globo gym… That could mean crazy new tools or just cutting edge info like what Kareem always has to offer.

In the first video you are doing a squat, not a deadlift and I think that Eric Cressey did a pretty good job at dismissing unstable surface training as a waste of time for most people, most of the time. Maybe if you are having difficulty firing the TVA/Multifidus complex to support the low back then it could be an exercise to help facilitate and groove the actions of these muscles. Otherwise, just lift ALOT heavier in the front squat and deadlift (which you can only do on stable surfaces) to get the job done so you’re not hangin’ on the porch with the little dogs!

In general, it’s not a good idea to do a ‘true deadlift’ with dumbbells, as, by definition, you’d have to pick them up off the ground. This would be a very, very low squat position to begin the exercise and most people don’t have the equipment to do so…

As for Cressey, he’s the man! …in fact, he and I were just on the phone the other day talking about how important the unstable surface training I use in DEFL is for increased proprioceptive benefit with athletes… and for building coordination, strength, and better carryover to athletic movements… plus, injury prevention, muscle balancing… you get the idea. Perhaps this comment was taken out of context?

…but is your goal to get big? or to get ripped?

If it’s getting huge, I wouldn’t suggest doing max lifts on unstable surfaces… that could be dangerous and limiting. But I’d definitely agree you should lift a lot of weight 🙂

On the other hand, if you want to get ripped, I’d encourage you to give unstable surfaces a try before you write them off… it’s worked for thousands of people so far that I’ve trained, so I’m sure there’s something to it…

Thanks for your input. I love this type of discussion.

Adam and Ryan, this is testament to the education you provide up here and the quality of the readership on this blog. Congrats to all of you.

Cressey is definitely a brilliant trainer. But so is Dr. K. The thing is, they come from different perspectives, work with different populations and their clients have different realities and goals. That means the path they take will differ. But the underlying truths that they both use to get the job done are the same.

For sure, lifting really heavy stuff — with good form — is a wicked way to develop the core. Personally, I love that approach. But the reality is, not everyone is interested in lifting heavy stuff. In fact, not everyone CAN lift heavy stuff due to pre-existing conditions.

And even those who CAN lift heavy stuff are probably lacking in some of the fine tuning that can be done with more targeted exercises like those shown by the doc in this post.

another version of the dumbell pushup I came up with is to have your feet on dumbells that have an unstable ends, not flat. So it rocks some whatwhat, then do your pushups w/o the iso hold, but still bring the knees up to the elbows and back to the dunbells. Require good balance and good core strength. The superset split squat and plate crossover I dont see much pupose in the crossover … but have always done the split squat with press.

Cool, very cool. Yeah, I’ve done that version too, but I’m really excited that you’re trying this stuff and coming up with your own versions.

Glad you’re enjoying the exercises 🙂

As for the squat burst – that’s like a neurofacilatory (spikes up your nervous system by working in PNF or diagonal patterns and trains nervous system efficiency) coupled with a great swinging motion. Very effective… and very good for balance as well.

Wow! My mind is racing right now. This just opened my mind up to a ton of new ways to train! I can’t wait to give these a try. Dr. K is the man! Thanks!
.-= Kelly – Fitness Overhaul´s last blog -> Funny Dad Video- I hope I’m Not This Bad! =-.

Adam and Ryan, I am leaving a comment here because I can get no response from you to me emails. I purchased Dr. K’s Ab Strength Guide for 17.00 with the added bonus from you of Kevlar Core and Pillar of Power for free. You stated in your email to me, that I needed to provide Angela at support@bodyweightcoach.com with my “receipt”. I don’t know what that “receipt” was supposed to be, but I sent the email that I considered to be my receipt to Angela (3 times, now0 and have received no response. Would someone please look up my information and send a response to the email I provided?

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